1. GIFT FROM THE SEA: Anne Morrow Lindbergh
When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.
It takes years to marry completely two hearts, even of the most loving and well assorted. A happy wedlock is a long falling in love. Young persons think love belongs only to the brown-haired and crimson-cheeked. So it does for its beginning. But the golden marriage is a part of love which the Bridal day knows nothing of…
Such a large and sweet fruit is a complete marriage that it needs a long summer to ripen in, and then a long winter to mellow and season it. But a really happy marriage of love and judgement between a noble man and woman is one of the things so very handsome that if the sun were, as the Greek poets fabled, a God, he might stop the world and hold it still now and then in order to look all day long on some example thereof, and feast his eyes on such a spectacle.
2. AN IRISH WEDDING BLESSING: Anon
You are the star of each night,
You are the brightness of every morning,
You are the story of each guest,
You are the report of every land.
No evil shall befall you, on hill nor bank,
In field or valley, on mountain or in glen.
Neither above, nor below, neither in sea,
Nor on shore, in skies above,
Nor in the depths.
You are the kernel of my heart,
You are the face of my sun,
You are the harp of my music,
You are the crown of my company
3. FAIR DINKUM LOVE: Kim Cockerell
Fair dinkum love isn’t about bringing in a dozen red roses
It’s about bringing in the washing.
It’s not about standing next to your partner
because they look good on your arm
It’s about standing by them even when they look foolish.
Fair dinkum love isn’t about stiff posture and smart clothes
It’s about wrestling on the couch in your tracksuit.
It’s not about oysters and candle-lit dinners
It’s about bringing home Chinese when your partner’s had a busy day.
Fair dinkum love isn’t about exciting getaways and fancy resorts
It’s about being totally content sleeping-in together at home.
It’s not about gym memberships and facelifts
It’s about growing old and fat together.
Fair dinkum love is not about romance or image or success.
Fair dinkum love is about two average people adoring and accepting each other for who they are.
4. DAILY AFFLICTIONS: Andrew Boyd
We're all seeking that special person who is right for us. But if you've been through enough relationships, you begin to suspect there's no right person, just different flavors of wrong.
Why is this? Because you yourself are wrong in some way, and you seek out partners who are wrong in some complementary way. But it takes a lot of living to grow fully into your own wrongness. It isn't until you finally run up against your deepest demons, your unsolvable problems - the ones that make you truly who you are - that you're ready to find a life-long mate.
Only then do you finally know what you're looking for. You're looking for the wrong person. But not just any wrong person: the right wrong person - someone you lovingly gaze upon and think, "This is the problem I want to have.”
5. THE MOST WONDERFUL OF THINGS: Sir Hugh Walpole
The most wonderful of all things in life is the discovery of another human being with whom one’s relationship has growing depth, beauty and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most wonderful of all things in life.
6. LOVE: George Betts
We love each other
this is not the end result,
but the beginning.
Love begins when two people join together
to form a unity of souls
written in their hearts,
a new direction which
requires acceptance, patience
and understanding.
Acceptance for the differences,
for the struggles and the hardships,
and most of all
for change and growth.
Patience to allow time
to take its natural course to flow,
to blossom. Flowers and love
thrive on the same things,
time, warmth and care.
Understanding is the wisdom of maturity,
the combination of patience and acceptance.
And so, my friend,
I offer these things to you as one -
my gift to you.
7. WEDDING: Alice Oswald
From time to time our love is like a sail
and when the sail begins to alternate
from tack to tack, it’s like a swallowtail
and when the swallow flies it’s like a coat;
and if the coat is yours, it has a tear
like a wide mouth and when the mouth begins
to draw the wind, it’s like a trumpeter
and when the trumpet blows, it blows like millions....
and this, my love, when millions come and go
beyond the need of us, is like a trick;
and when the trick begins, it’s like a toe
tip-toeing on a rope, which is like luck;
and when the luck begins, it’s like a wedding,
which is like love, which is like everything
8. I PROMISE YOU ALL MY LOVE, NOW & FOREVER: Michelle Thomas
I promise to give you all my love
for now and forever,
to keep your love close to my heart
so that we will never grow apart.
I promise to confide in you
if I feel insecure.
I promise not to doubt your judgements
or actions, without first listening
to the feelings in your heart ...
I promise to support you in everything
you try to accomplish,
because your goals
have become our goals
to achieve together, side by side.
I promise to look back on
the good and bad times
with a smile,
to learn by each mistake
and know that, with every step of success,
we will make it if we just try.
I promise to offer you all the happiness
I am capable of giving you,
to see that the future is ours
to make the best of.
I promise to set time aside
to be best friends,
to dream dreams and make them reality,
and just to say "I love you"
I promise never to take you for granted
because you are the love of my life.
9. A WHITE ROSE: John Boyle O’Reilly (1844-1890)
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.
10. DANCE ME TO THE END OF LOVE: Leonard Cohen
Dance me to your beauty
with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic
till I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch
and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Let me see your beauty
when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving
like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only
know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding
now dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly
and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love
we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children
who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains
that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now
though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty
with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic
till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand
touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
11. GORECKI: Anon
It I should die this very moment,
I wouldn’t fear,
For I’ve never known completeness,
Like being here,
Wrapped in the warmth of you,
Loving every breath of you,
Still my heart this moment – or it might burst.
Could we stay right here,
Till the end of time
Till the earth stops turning
I want to love you till the seas run dry,
I’ve found the one I’ve waited for
All this time I’ve love you
And never known your face,
All this time I’ve missed you
And searched this human race
Here is true peace,
Here my heart knows calm,
Safe in your soul – bathed in your sighs
Could we stay right here
Till the end of time
Till the earth stops turning
I will love you till the seas run dry,
I’ve found the one I’ve waited for …
All I’ve known
All I’ve done
All I’ve felt
Was leading to this
12. BUDDHA
In the future, happy occasions will come as surely as the morning. Difficult times will come as surely as the night. When things go joyously, meditate according to the Buddhist tradition. When things go badly, meditate. Meditation in the manner of the Compassionate Buddha will guide your life. To say the words ‘love and compassion is easy. But to accept that love and compassion are built upon patience and perseverance is not easy.
13. THROUGH THE YEARS WE HAVE LEARNED: Anon.
A lot about each other,
And we have grown together.
We have learned about forgiveness;
It takes two understanding people
To accept one another's faults
And still find it in their hearts
To forgive each other
And forget old arguments
We have learned about friendship;
Friends stick together,
They're always truthful to each other,
And they always comfort one another
In times of turmoil.
Most of all, we have learned about love.
It is something that takes time,
And after all our time together,
Our love has never been stronger.
14. DON'T EVER: Laine Parsons
Don't ever try to understand everything -
some things will just never make sense.
Don't ever be reluctant to show your feelings -
when you're happy, give into it!
When you're not, live with it.
Don't ever be afraid to try to make things better -
you might be surprised at the results.
Don't ever take the weight of the world
on your shoulders.
Don't ever feel threatened by the future -
take life one day at a time.
Don't ever feel guilty about the past -
What's done is done. Learn from any mistakes
you might have made.
Don't ever forget that you can achieve
so many of the things you can imagine -
imagine that! It's not as hard as it seems.
Don't ever stop loving,
don't ever stop believing,
don't ever stop dreaming your dreams.
15. CORINTHIANS 1:13 (Adapted)
Love is always patient and kind;
It is never jealous;
Love is never boastful or conceited;
It is never rude and selfish;
It does not take offence,
And is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure
In other people's faults
But delights in the truth;
It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope.
It is always ready to endure whatever comes.
True love does not come to an end.
16. THE JOURNEY: PJ Mayrhofer
Two friends decided to journey together
Towards a common destination.
Before they began their journey
They shared their expectations as follows:
There will be days, my friend
When one will want to walk along the mountain path,
Whilst the other may prefer the valley.
But we will come together at the end of the day
And share our experiences.
There will be days when one will want to sing and dance,
Whilst the other will prefer to travel in quietness,
So we will choose different paths,
But we will meet at the close of the day
And be content with our experiences.
There will be days when one will want to rest,
Whilst the other may want to move further along the path,
But at the right time we will come together
And be happy that each has fulfilled their own needs.
There will be days when we shall travel
Together as one.
17. FROM LEUNIG: Michael Leunig
If you want a mate, you’ve got to know how to cook –
cook up a good relationship.
It’s no good dreaming one up in the Lounge room of Excellence;
you must prepare for ordinary hard slog:
you must roll up your sleeves and cook one up
in the Kitchen of Give and Take.
First you must climb into the Battered Old Saucepan of Love
Where you will marinate in the Sauce of Sex.
Then you shall be covered with the wine of Faith,
the Oil of Compassion and the Salt of Sin and Suffering.
Now you are tossed in the Pan of Chaos,
and seared by the Flame of Truth.
You are carved by the Knife of Compromise
and served with the Spoon of Duty;
onto the Plate of Acceptance
and garnished with the Herbs of Humility.
At this point you may well say grace.
18. I CARRY YOUR HEART WITH ME: E. E. Cummings
I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)
I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)
I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
I want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher that soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)
19. MY HEART, QUEEN OF THE BEEHIVE: Pablo Naruda
My heart, queen of the beehive and the barnyard, little leopard of the string and the onions, I love to watch your miniature empire sparkle: your weapons of wax and wine and oil, garlic, and the soil that opens for your hands, the blue material that ignites in your hands, the transmigration of dream into salad, the snake rolled up in the garden hose. You with your sickle that lifts the perfumes, you with the bossy soapsuds, you climbing my ladders and stairs. You taking charge: even my handwriting, its characteristics, even the sand grains in my notebooks - finding in those pages lost syllables that were searching for your mouth
20. WE ARE ALL SAND: Glen Still
I’m a grain of sand
Filtering a million gallons in the sea
Washed up on so many beaches
The places that I’ve been
I can explain to the masses
A grain of sand is an equal
The engine of the earth
I’ve covered the globe looking for peace
I’ve been broken up into microscopic pieces
The wind has washed me up onto the sand bar
Of some island known as paradise
I have finally been allowed by my own efforts
After searching high and low
Growing life, liberty and equality
For all the grains of sand on this planet earth
Known as men, women and children
We all make up the substance of the castle
We are all sand
21. WHAT IS LOVE: Author Unknown
Sooner or later we begin to understand that love is more than verses on valentines and romance in the movies. We begin to know that love is here and now, real and true, the most important thing in our lives. For love is the creator of our favourite memories and the foundation of our fondest dreams. Love is a promise that is always kept, a fortune that can never be spent, a seed that can flourish in even the most unlikely of places. And this radiance that never fades, this mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all – one known only by those who love.
22. A GOOD WEDDING CAKE: Author Unknown
4lb of love.
1lb butter of youth.
½lb of good looks.
1lb sweet temper.
1lb of blindness of faults.
1lb of self forgetfulness.
1lb of pounded wit.
1lb of good humour.
2 tablespoons of sweet argument.
1 pint of rippling laughter.
1 wine glass of common sense.
1oz modesty.
Put the love, good looks and sweet temper into a well furnished house. Beat the butter of youth to a cream, and mix well together with the blindness of faults. Stir the pounded wit and good humour into the sweet argument, then add the rippling laughter and common sense. Work the whole together until everything is well mixed, and bake gently for ever.
23. FROM THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER: A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
"Pooh, promise you won't forget about me, ever. Not even when I'm a hundred."
Pooh thought for a little.
"How old shall I be then?"
"Ninety-nine." Pooh nodded.
"I promise," he said.
Still with his eyes on the world, Christopher Robin put out a hand and felt for Pooh's paw.
"Pooh," said Christopher Robin earnestly, "if I - if I'm not quite" he stopped and tried again "Pooh, whatever happens, you will understand, won't you?
"Understand what?"
"Oh, nothing." He laughed and jumped to his feet. "Come on!"
"Where?" said Pooh.
"Anywhere," said Christopher Robin.
24. OH THE PLACES YOU”LL GO: Dr Seuss.
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guys who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look ’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do, to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.
But on you will go though the weather be foul.
On you will go though your enemies prowl.
On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike.
And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
KIDS, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So… be your name Mountford or Mixby or May, or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting.
So … get on your way!
25. US TWO: A.A. Milne (1882-1956)
Wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
Whatever I do, he wants to do,
"Where are you going today?" says Pooh...
"Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too.
"Let's go together," says Pooh, says he.
"Let's go together," says Pooh.
"What's twice eleven?" I said to Pooh,
"Twice what?" said Pooh to Me.
"I think it ought to be twenty two."
"Just what I think myself," said Pooh.
"It wasn't an easy sum to do,
But that's what it is," said Pooh, said he.
"That's what it is," said Pooh.
"Let's look for dragons," I said to Pooh.
"Yes, let's," said Pooh to Me.
We crossed the river and found a few...
"Yes, those are dragons all right," said Pooh.
"As soon as I saw their beaks I knew.
That's what they are," said Pooh, said he.
"That's what they are," said Pooh.
"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh.
"That's right," said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!"... and off they flew.
"I wasn't afraid," said Pooh, said he,
"I'm never afraid with you."
So wherever I am, there's always Pooh,
There's always Pooh and Me.
"What would I do?" I said to Pooh,
"If it wasn't for you," and Pooh said... "True,
It isn't much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together," says Pooh, says he.
"That's how it is," says Pooh.
26. I WILL BE HERE: Steven Curtis Chapman
If in the morning when you wake,
If the sun does not appear,
I will be here.
If in the dark we lose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
I will be here.
I will be here,
When you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind I will listen.
Through the winning, losing, and trying we'll be together,
And I will be here.
If in the morning when you wake,
If the future is unclear,
I will be here.
As sure as seasons were made for change,
Our lifetimes were made for years,
I will be here.
I will be here,
And you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we're older.
I will hold you, to watch you grow in beauty,
And tell you all the things you are to me.
We'll be together and I will be here.
I will be true to the promises I've made,
To you and to the one who gave you to me.
I will be here.
27. THE BOOK OF LOVE: Stephen Merritt
The book of love is long and boring
No one can lift the damn thing
It's full of charts and facts and figures
and instructions for dancing
But I, I love it when you read to me
And you, you can read me anything
The book of love has music in it
In fact that's where music comes from
Some of it is just transcendental
Some of it is just really dumb
But I, I love it when you sing to me
And you, you can sing me anything
The book of love is long and boring
And written very long ago
It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes
And things we're all too young to know
But I, I love it when you give me things
And you, you ought to give me wedding rings
I, I love it when you give me things
And you, you ought to give me wedding rings
28.FROM THE IRRATIONAL SEASON: Madeleine L'Engle
But ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take. It is indeed a fearful gamble. Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature.
To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take. If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation. It takes a lifetime to learn another person. When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected.
29. LOVE: Roy Croft
I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out.
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy
You have done it
Without a touch
Without a word,
Without a sign
You have done it
By being yourself.
30. ALL I EVER REALLY NEEDED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN: Robert Fulgham
All of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.
These are the things I learned...
Share everything.
Play fair
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Give them to someone who feels sad.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day.
Take a nap every afternoon.
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
31. A LOVELY LOVE STORY: Edward Monkton
The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.
Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur.
The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.
“I like this Dinosaur,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny. He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now.”
“I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur,” thought the Dinosaur. “She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice. She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.”
“But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “He is also overly fond of things. Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?”
“But her mind skips from here to there so quickly,” thought the Dinosaur. “She is also uncommonly keen on shopping. Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?”
“I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur, “for they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.”
“I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping,” thought the Dinosaur, “for she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.”
Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old.
Look at them.
Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.
And that, my friends, is how it is with love.
Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together.
For the sun is warm.
And the world is a beautiful place.
32. A QUOTE FROM BOB MARLEY:
He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”